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Sunday, August 12, 2012

Church without Jesus?

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6, NKJV)

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12, NKJV)

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2, NKJV)

If your church is not pointing you to Jesus Christ, you have a BIG problem! Christ must be the whole reason you're a Christ-ian and Christ must be the whole reason we do church!Remember that the Church is the Bride of Christ! If the Bride forgets her Bridegroom or neglects Him, what would that say of their relationship? What would that say to a watching world?Remember that the Church is the Body of Christ! If the Body forgets the Head or neglects Him, will it not quickly and utterly die?Remember that we are the Branch and Christ is the Vine! If the Branch ceases to be in the Vine, will it live? And what if we become puffed-up, thinking that we do not need the Vine? Will not the Vinedresser chasten us for our pride? [Indeed, the Apostle Paul says that the Vinedresser is able to cut us off completely from the Vine, should we become too proud. ref Romans 11:20-21]Jesus Christ must be everything to you! He must be everything to me! He did, after-all, save us from the wrath of God! Let's remember that this Sabbath!

Hello friend! Thank you so much for your comment and your questions. They are good ones. When I say that "God is good" I mean that in Him there is no evil; I mean that He hates evil; and He hates the evil in us. He is a just God: He will punish evil. He will either require that we bear the punishment for our own sins, or He will accept the payment of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Because God is loving and merciful, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to bear the punishment we deserved, so that we would not have to, if we trust in Him. "The wrath of God" is God's just anger against sin, which Jesus Christ bore for me in love. If you turn to Christ, God will accept Christ's sufferings on your behalf, too.

I no longer need to fear God's wrath, because Jesus Christ bore it for me. I fear God in the sense that He is God and I am a human made out of dust--He is far more powerful than I. But He calls me "friend" because I am accepted in Christ.

You can be, too. Turn from sin and turn to Christ, and you will be saved.

So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" - Hebrews 13:6, NKJV

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. - Galatians 2:20, NKJV